Chevy Camaro revives the past, looks to future

When Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen opens nationwide today, one of the stars of the movie about morphing machinery is Bumblebee, a heroic "Autobot" who disguises himself as a 2010 Camaro SS. On Monday, a designer from General Motors stopped by St. Petersburg to give the Times' Daily Drivers a preview of the car and to explain how Chevy morphed the classic Camaro into a modern version of the muscle car.

Jeff Perkins, who helped design the car's interior, said GM had two goals: to have the "Camaro faithful" respond to it as the car they loved from the '60s, and for it to appeal to younger drivers unfamiliar with the original.

"We look back at all the generations of Camaro . . . but really focused on the '67 to '69 (models)," said Perkins. "They really embodied what a pony car is . . . from a design statement. We felt it was the purest shape."

Here's a first look at the Camaro. Of course, we'll hope for more time with the SS in the future to confirm our initial impressions.

The look

• The gills on the rear fender well are just like the classic.

• Single-lens headlights have a contemporary touch with halo lighting.